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Biomechanical effects of body weight support with a novel robotic walker for over-ground gait rehabilitation

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Abstract

Body weight support (BWS) promotes better functional outcomes for neurologically challenged patients. Despite the established effectiveness of BWS in gait rehabilitation, the findings on biomechanical effects of BWS training still remain contradictory. Therefore, the aim of this study is to comprehensively investigate the effects of BWS. Using a newly developed robotic walker which can facilitate pelvic motions with an active BWS unit, we compared gait parameters of ten healthy subjects during a 10-m walk with incremental levels of body weight unloading, ranging from 0 to 40 % at 10 % intervals. Significant changes in joint angles and gait temporospatial parameters were observed. In addition, the results of an EMG signal study showed that the intensity of muscle activation was significantly reduced with increasing BWS levels. The reduction was found at the ankle, knee, and hip joints in the sagittal plane as well as at the hip joint in the frontal plane. The results of this study provide an important indication of increased lateral body balance and greater stabilization in sagittal and frontal plane during gait. Our findings provide a better understanding of the biomechanical effects of BWS during gait, which will help guide the gait rehabilitation strategies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the following grants: NMRC/BnB/0019b/2015 from Ministry of Health of Singapore and FRC Tier 1 under WBS No. R-397-000-218-112 from National University of Singapore.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 9 Engineering Drive 1, Singapore, 117575, Republic of Singapore

    Su Bin Lim & Haoyong Yu

  2. Imaging Media Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, 136791, Republic of Korea

    Kyung-Ryoul Mun

  3. School of Power and Mechanical Engineering, Wuhan University, 430072, Wuhan, China

    Zhao Guo

Authors
  1. Kyung-Ryoul Mun
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  2. Su Bin Lim
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  3. Zhao Guo
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  4. Haoyong Yu
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Correspondence to Haoyong Yu.

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Mun, KR., Lim, S.B., Guo, Z. et al. Biomechanical effects of body weight support with a novel robotic walker for over-ground gait rehabilitation. Med Biol Eng Comput 55, 315–326 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-016-1515-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-016-1515-8

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